There's a germ, a disease-causing microbe in Locke's quote. It's a throw-back to the first bite taken from the apple that hung on the tree of the knowlege of good and evil.
A counter-point to Locke's philosophy is a quote by Paul (1st century A.D.):
"No one is righteous---not even one.
No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God.
All have turned away; all have become useless.
No one does good, not a single one."
Romans 3:10-12-- Ron, Westcliffe, CO

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Paul was the first corrupter of Jesus' doctrines. I will take Locke any day. In fact, this quote is absolutely brilliant, and indeed a great truth.-- E Archer, NYC

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Ron, what about "If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32)-- Eal, Houstown

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This quote is right-on; I'm afraid Paul's quote is right-off. The disease we have is not from any fruit but from ourselves, it's a malady that most take with them to the grave - it's called greed and indifference - as Archer said yesterday: '...The truth indeed frees those bound to belief systems. I think if Jesus were to return today, many so-called Christian faiths would come tumbling down' top marks for that one Archer. -- RobertSRQ

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Human perfection is a very fleeting thing. It always seems to be just within reach, but never can be grasped. It seems some here still believe in the natural goodness of humanity and that human beings can perfect themselves eventually. All of human history would say otherwise.-- Ken, Allyn, WA

The flaw in your logic Ron is that Adam and Eve were seeking knowledge not truth. They already had the truth. Eal has it right.-- warren, olathe

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We are most all toprn between truth and getting along. Thus Galileo recanted the truth in order to protect his standing in society and with his family. Often people are not ready for the truth. Take global warming for example. A scientist discovered and explained it over 100 years ago when he anaysed what the modern world was doing with fossil fuels. And yet we still have sceptics. Will we ever learn, it took the church 500 years to apologize to Galileo. Jesus said, :"We can see the 'splinter' in another's eye but can not detect the log that is in our own." -- Waffler, Smith, Ar.

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Brilliant! To some extent, the greatest perfection is our imperfection since learning from our mistakes teaches how not to make them any more with truth as the guide, then again honesty allows us to doubt our own actions and thoughts and become better. It is quite a ride.-- Gölök Zoltán Leenderdt Franco Buday, Vancouver, GVRD(Paine Cnty), Coastal Lwr Mainland BC(State of Neo Sumer), U.S. of Eh!

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Absolutely right, Locke. Truth should be valued for truth's own sake. I fail to see what this has to do with the story of Adam and Eve, or Paul.-- Anonymous